


Fluffy Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

by Hils



Series: The Fluffy Files [7]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-08-13
Updated: 2001-08-13
Packaged: 2018-10-08 22:30:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10397616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hils/pseuds/Hils





	

Dru's eyes widened with delight as she gazed at the open box in front of her. Inside lay a beautifully ornate necklace, with clusters of rubies set in gold. Dru fingered it delicately.

"It's pretty and sparkly."

Spike smiled. "Nothing but the best for-"

He was cut off as Angelus swept into the room, depositing a still bloody human heart of the table with a wet slap.

"Happy Valentine's Day." he grinned.

Spike's gift immediately forgotten, Dru wandered over to the table and looked down in awe. She reached out for the heart, almost touching it but not quite, as if it were some holy relic.

"It's still warm." she murmured.

"I knew you'd like it. Got it from a quaint little shopkeeper," he noticed the now discarded necklace and picked it up. "Cute."

Spike rolled forward in his wheelchair and snatched it away. "Keep your bloody hands to yourself."

He maneuvered himself over to Dru and fastened the necklace around her neck. Her eyes never left the heart on the table. Once he was done, Spike glared at the older vampire but Angelus merely grinned and turned his attention back to Dru.

"So, baby, what do you want to do tonight? It's your day; you can do anything you want."

Her eyes glinted evilly. "Can we go out and play?"

Angel wrapped an arm around her. "Of course we can."

He took the necklace off and tossed it to Spike. "Don't want that thing getting in the way while we hunt."

As he guided Dru to the door, he glanced over his shoulder at Spike. "Don't wait up."

As the door clicked shut, Spike stared at the discarded necklace. This had to end now, he was going to get Dru back; he didn't care how.

* * *

Spike rooted around in the chest in their bedroom until he found what he was looking for: an old leather bound book containing various spells. He'd picked it up on their travels through Europe, figuring he might need it someday for something. He never dreamed it would be for this reason though. He flicked through the dusty pages until he found what he was looking for. Love spells.

If Dru wasn't going to love him on her own, he was just going to have to make her.

* * *

Spike looked from the ingredients on the floor to the spell book in his lap. It hadn't taken much to scare one of his minions onto getting what he needed and now, finally, he was ready to begin. Looking at the words in the book, he began to chant softly.

"The beauty that is love denied,  
Grant me that now my love you find,  
My true love, return to me,  
Return to me with the love you see,  
The love for one,  
The love I've won,  
Come to me, my true love."

A faint breeze blew through the room and then all was still. Spike smiled to himself and then stifled a yawn. The sun was almost up and it was time to sleep, alone.

"Not for much longer." he muttered to himself as he wheeled into the bedroom and heaved himself out of the chair and onto the bed. Getting himself comfortable, he settled down and closed his eyes. Dru would be with him soon.

* * *

The first think Spike became aware of when he woke was that he wasn't alone. Someone was slowly unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time. He smiled but didn't open his eyes. Dru. It had to be. He lay there, feigning sleep until he felt his shirt open and soft, warm hands begin to caress his chest…warm hands?! His eyes shot open and he gave a startled gasp. It wasn't Dru at all; it was the Slayer. Instinctively he grabbed her by the waist and threw her to the floor. However, instead of fighting back, she merely looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

Spike was now incredibly confused but there was no way he was going to let it show. "Come to finish me off have you, Slayer? Pick on a defenseless vampire while he sleeps?"

She looked genuinely horrified at this. "What?? No! I could never kill the man I love."

If Spike had needed to breathe he would almost certainly have fainted at that. "You what?"

Buffy sat back down on the bed and placed her hand on his cheek. "I love you."

Spike shook his head. This was obviously some kind of freaky dream induced by too many smokes and not enough blood. Maybe if he played along he'd wake himself up from it. "Since when have you loved me, Slayer."

"Since forever."

Spike raised an eyebrow and Buffy smiled.

"Well, not forever exactly, but since I first saw you. That night when you were outside the Bronze, I knew as soon as I saw you that I'd finally met someone who was my equal. I didn't need to see you fight to know that you could beat me. You nearly did too, remember; if my Mom hadn't helped out, you would have got me."

Spike smiled. "I remember."

Seeing him smile seemed to encourage Buffy once more. She climbed fully onto the bed, straddled him and began to place soft kisses on his chest, slowly moving up until she finally reached his lips. Inwardly Spike groaned; Dru leaving him had clearly affected him so badly he was dreaming of the Slayer to make up for it. He pushed her away.

"This is crazy. You're not real and this isn't happening. Get out of my dreams and let me get some kip."

Buffy cocked her head to one side, looking at Spike as though he was the crazy one. Finally she reached out and pinched his arm…hard.

"OW!" Spike exclaimed, rubbing the now tender skin. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Just showing you that you're not dreaming."

Spike eyes widened with the realization that this was real; that she was real. "Alright then, Slayer. Why don't you tell me the real reason you're here?"

Buffy looked puzzled. "You know why I'm here."

This time he couldn't help but laugh. "You can't be serious. We've been trying to kill each other since we first met. Besides, I'm a vampire and you're the Slayer, we're not exactly a perfect couple now are we."

Buffy shook her head in disagreement. "It worked ok with Angel…until he lost his soul and went evil. But that's why this will work between us; you don't have a soul to lose."

Now Spike was sure she was crazy. He laughed again. "I get it. You can't have one vampire so you make a play for the nearest one available. I'm flattered that you picked me out of all the undead out there, but I'm taken."

This time it was Buffy's turn to laugh. "You mean Dru? Come on, Spike, you know she can never make you happy. She's crazier than…well…no one."

Spike growled and pushed her away again. "Don't talk about her like that. I love Dru, so why don't you take your vamp craving somewhere else and leave me alone?"

He was totally unprepared when Buffy's lower lip began to tremble, and even less so when she burst into tears. Spike watched her curiously for a moment, a strange feeling gnawing inside him. Before he even realized it he reached out a hand and gently patted her on the knee.

"Um…Slayer? Stop crying."

He wasn't used to this, comforting people. Normally he just killed them and was done with it. Still, a lot had changed since he'd been crippled. He must be turning soft. Buffy looked up at him, her cheeks still moist with tears. Thankfully though, she had stopped crying.

Buffy couldn't believe that Spike had more or less told her that he loved someone else; Dru didn't appreciate him like she did. Still, never being one for giving up easily she decided to have another try.

"Spike, will you walk me home? It's a nice night."

Spike stared at her for a moment, unsure if she was joking or not. Pretty sick joke if she was. The look in her eyes, however, told him that she was serious. Then he realized that she hadn't really seen him properly since the fight in the church. She genuinely didn't know.

"Um…I don't think that's going to happen."

He looked pointedly at the wheelchair and Buffy followed his gaze. Her eyes fixed on the chair for a moment before looking back at Spike. Her lip began to tremble again.

"Now, Slayer, don't…"

She burst into tears once more.

"…cry."

"I…did…this…to…you." she choked out in between sobs. Spike was at a loss; she actually felt bad for hurting him. After a few minutes of him sitting in awkward silence listening to her sob, she tapered of into sniffles. Finally she climbed to her feet.

"I should go." she sniffed.

"Slayer…" Spike began but it was too late, she was out of the door and gone. He slumped back into the pillows. That had to be the weirdest few minutes of his entire existence.

* * *

"Well, look who's finally up." Angelus sneered as Spike rolled into the room. As usual Spike ignored him and made his way over to Dru who was tending to her dolls.

"Did you sleep well, pet?"

Dru nodded, barely looking up from her task.

"Dru, baby, are you ready to go out?" Angel called. This time she looked up and smiled at her sire.

"Yes, my Angel." She immediately dropped what she was doing and went to his side, brushing past Spike in the process. As soon as they were out of the door, Spike felt his heart sink. His spell hadn't worked, instead of Dru loving him all he'd got was the Slayer...bloody hell.

* * *

The next evening Spike lay on his bed, alone as usual, his mind still reeling from what he had discovered. The spell he had cast to make Dru love him again had obviously gone wrong, and for some reason had affected the Slayer. Why it had to be her out of all the girls, he didn't know.

With a sigh he lit a cigarette and slowly began to smoke it.

"Spike?" a small voice called tentatively. He raised his head and saw that it was the Slayer. "Can I come in?"

He shrugged nonchalantly and she stepped into the room. Rather than sitting down, she hovered at his bedside, looking down at him uncertainly.

"Something you want?" Spike asked roughly.

Buffy opened her mouth to speak and then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. After a few seconds, she seemed to gather her courage and she managed to speak.

"Um…Spike…I was wondering…" Suddenly her face hardened so that she looked almost angry. "Who's been taking care of you since you got hurt? This is the second time I've been here in 24 hours and neither Angel nor Dru are ever around."

Spike was thrown by her question, how was he supposed to answer that? His hesitation, however, was all the answer Buffy needed.

Her face changed into a look of total resolve. "I thought as much. Well, from now on that's going to be my job. I'll come and see you after patrol, bring you anything you need and help you when you want it."

"I don't want it. At all." Spike immediately snapped. Buffy wasn't deterred.

"Well, when you need it then."

He growled. "Slayer-"

"Trust me, Spike," she interrupted. "By next month your wheelchair will be garage sale material. Just let me help."

Spike looked at her for a moment. He really didn't want to accept anyone's help, least of all hers, but the idea of getting out of his chair sooner rather than later was too good to pass up. He let out a big, annoyed sigh; this was not going to be fun.

"Alright then, Slayer, you can help on one condition: no more crap about loving me, okay?"

"But-"

"I mean it, that's the deal. You start off on that again and you'll find the doors locked next time you try and visit."

She seemed to think about this for a moment but finally she nodded.

"I have another question. How many times have you been outside since this happened to you?"

Spike shook his head. "It's a bit difficult to get out when-HEY!"

Buffy had taken hold of the handles on his chair and was pushing him towards the door. "It's a beautiful night, Spike. I want you to see it."

He tried to protest some more but she ignored him until they were outside. As the cool breeze lightly blew over him, Spike fell silent. He'd never been one for appreciating things before, save the thrill of a good kill. But right now being out here was possibly one of the best things he'd ever experienced. Buffy smiled.

"There's a nice park nearby. Why don't we go there for a while?"

Spike nodded and the short journey was made in silence.

As they entered the park, Spike couldn't help but smile; it was nice here. Buffy pushed him over to a set of swings and sat down on one of them, positioning Spike so that he was in front of her.

"This reminds me of a park I used to play in when I was little," she said with a nostalgic smile. "I like to come here sometimes; think about the days when I wasn't out killing vampires and demons every night."

Spike stared at her for a moment. It was hard to imagine her as anything other than the Slayer. "What were you like back then? Before you were called?"

Buffy gave a dry laugh. "Nothing special, I was into clothes, boys, cheerleading…the normal stuff. I had a normal life and I never really appreciated it until it was taken away from me."

"You don't enjoy being the Slayer?"

"It's not that. The Slayer is part of who I am. It's just sometimes I miss, you know…"

Suddenly she climbed off the swing and stepped behind Spike. He heard the sound of a scuffle followed by the unmistakable sound of a neck being snapped. Buffy walked back and sat down on the swing.

"…normality." she finished.

Spike stared at her for a moment. "What the bloody hell was that all about?"

"Demon," she replied simply. "Are you ready to go?"

Spike nodded and she took hold of the chair and swung him around so that he was facing the gates. Sure enough, the body of a demon was lying just behind where his chair had been. With a small shudder he realized that he probably would have been ripped to shreds if it hadn't been for Buffy.

"Um, Slayer? Thanks. Think I would've been a goner if scaly there had got his claws into me."

"No problem," Buffy replied. "I wouldn't make a very good nurse if I got you killed on your first night out."

Spike wanted to protest about his need for a nurse but decided against it and fell silent. Buffy wheeled him back into the factory and into his room. She helped him out of the chair and back onto the bed before sitting beside him.

"I-I enjoyed that." Spike said, almost shyly.

Buffy smiled but it quickly turned into a frown. "Apart from the bit where I nearly got you killed."

"Yeah, well, lucky for me I've got a Slayer looking after me. Tell you what, on our second date we can go somewhere completely safe, like the cinema or something."

Buffy smiled. "Date?"

Spike shifted on the bed. He looked at the floor, the walls, the ceiling, anywhere but at Buffy. "Date? Did I say date? That's not what I meant. I meant an…um…"

Buffy leaned over and kissed him softly, effectively silencing him. "Whatever you meant, I'd love to."

Buffy stood up. "I'd better go. I'll see you tomorrow for our…date."

Before Spike could get any more flustered than he already was, she was out of the door and gone.

* * *

The next evening, Spike rolled into the main room of the factory, his heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time. He knew that as soon as Angelus and Dru went out, Buffy would arrive and he'd long since given up pretending he wasn't looking forward to seeing her.

"Well, look who it is," Angelus sneered. "Our own resident Merlin."

Spike tensed. "What?"

Angelus held up the spell book and Spike cursed under his breath. He thought he'd hidden all traces of that stupid spell.

"So what is it you've been doing Spike? Trying to get those useless legs of yours working again? It'll take a bit more than magic to fix that mess."

Spike ignored him, thankful at least that Angelus didn't know what he'd tried to do and what the result had been.

The older vampire shrugged. "Well, Dru and I are going hunting. Try not to turn yourself into a toad. On second thought, frog's legs are quite tasty, I hear."

A few minutes later and Spike was alone once more, only this time he didn't care. He knew it wouldn't be long.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the door opened and Buffy walked in.

"Hi, Spike." she greeted.

"Evening, pet." he smiled in return.

She gave him a coy smile. "I have something for you; kind of a late Valentine's gift."

Spike looked puzzled, more so when she stepped up behind him and slipped a blindfold over his eyes.

"Um…Slayer? What are you doing?"

"It's a surprise." she whispered softly as she began to wheel him out of the factory, her warm breath tickling his ear.

As Buffy wheeled him to their unknown destination, Spike was amazed at the level of trust he was at with her. The Slayer was someone he should be either fleeing from or killing. Yet here he was, allowing her to have total control over him, knowing that he was totally defenseless should she try and stake him. Somehow, though, he knew that wouldn't happen.

Although he couldn't see where he was going, his other senses were still finely tuned. He could hear the sound of waves softly lapping on the shore and the air was slightly tinged with the scent of salt. Now he knew where they were, he just didn't know why.

Finally they stopped and Buffy removed his blindfold. Spike blinked and then stared at the sight before him. They were at the beach, as he had suspected, and there was a large blanket laid out on the sand. A small battery powered radio sat nearby and music was playing softly. There were candles set up emitting a soft glow and the blanket itself was laden with food of all kinds, including blood for himself.

"Do you like it?" she asked hopefully.

Spike nodded slowly, still trying to take it all in. "You didn't have to do all this for me."

"I wanted to." she replied as she helped him out of his chair and onto the blanket.

They ate in silence, just enjoying the calm and peaceful atmosphere and each other's company. Finally when they were finished, Buffy spoke.

"I read that water helps relax your muscles…I think it would be good for you. You know, get you out of that chair for a little while."

Spike stared at her for a moment and then looked over his shoulder at the sea. Buffy saw his hesitation and smiled.

"Sacred of a bit of water are you?"

Spike scowled at her and growled. "I'm not bloody scared. Let's do it."

Buffy hid her grin as she climbed to her feet. She knew just how to get him to agree with her without him even knowing it. After helping him back into his chair, she wheeled him to the shore and removed his boots while he pulled his T-shirt off. Buffy took her own shoes off and then lifted him up as carefully as she could, carrying him into the water.

Once they were at a reasonable depth, she let go of his legs so both of their feet could touch the soft sand. She slipped her arms around his waist and held him close. Spike beamed. He was standing, with help, but standing nonetheless. The water felt so soothing, and Buffy's arms around his waist weren't unpleasant either. He closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

"Feel good?" Buffy asked.

Spike murmured and nodded, his eyes still closed.

"Does it help?" she pressed.

Spike opened his eyes and looked at her. "A little. Can't really feel my legs so I wouldn't know the difference, luv."

Buffy lowered her eyes. "Oh." she whispered sadly.

Spike cupped her chin and raised her head so that their eyes met. "Don't be sad, luv. The fact that I'm standing at all is a start, and I have you to thank for it."

He leant forward and kissed her. Unfortunately, the water had thrown his sense of balance out of proportion and Buffy toppled backwards, pulling Spike down with her. Beneath the waves they continued to kiss until Buffy realized that breathing might be a good idea and she surfaced, a smile on her face. It soon faded, however, when she saw that Spike still hadn't surfaced.

"Spike?" she called, a slight hint of panic in her voice. "SPIKE??"

Still nothing. She looked beneath the water and realized with horror that she couldn't even see him anymore. She was about to dive back under the water when she felt something grab her from behind and cover her eyes.

"Hello, cutie." a familiar voice whispered in her ear. She whipped round to find herself facing a very wet, but also very much still in one piece vampire.

"Miss me?" he grinned.

Tears of relief filled her eyes but she refused to let them fall. "About as much as a hole in the head. Don't ever do that to me again."

Her fists pounded on his chest, not really doing any damage. Spike caught hold of her wrists and pulled her close to him.

"It's alright, I'm here now." he said softly.

"You could've drowned!" she said angrily.

"I don't need to breathe, pet." he chuckled.

"This is the Hellmouth…do you know how many monsters there could be in here with us?"

They fell silent and looked at each other warily.

"I think that's enough swimming for one night, don't you?" she asked hurriedly.

"You read my mind, Slayer." he agreed quickly and they speedily swam to shore.

Buffy climbed out first, turning back to Spike to help him to his chair. He shook his head.

"I want to walk."

Buffy stared at him for a moment, but the strong defiant look in her eyes told her not to argue with him. She stepped back to that he had clear access to the chair. Spike took a deep breath and raised one foot shakily. He took a wobbly step, then another, then a third.

Buffy smiled and then let out a startled yelp as his legs collapsed on the fourth step. She rushed over and managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

"You okay?" She asked with concern.

Spike nodded. "Just a little tired."

Buffy nodded; the swimming and walking must have exhausted him. "Let's get you home then."

She lifted him back into the chair and put his boots and socks on while he sluggishly pulled his T-shirt back on. Once they were both fully dressed again she took the handles of the chair and wheeled Spike back to the factory.

Spike closed his eyes and dozed a little as she pushed him; he was tired and wet, but had never been happier.

* * *

Back at the factory Buffy tugged the covers up over Spike and smoothed his still damp hair back from his forehead.

Once they had gotten back from the beach, she had helped him change into dry clothes and had put him to bed when she noticed that he was barely awake.

She now leaned over to see him peering sleepily at her. "I love you." he murmured.

Buffy smiled and kissed him softly. "I love you too."

The sound of someone clapping caused them both to whip their heads around to the door. Angelus stood in the doorway and when he was sure he had their attention, he let out a dramatic sigh and wiped away an imaginary tear.

"That was so beautiful; I really am moved."

Spike growled, suddenly feeling very much awake. "Sod off."

Angelus moved towards them. "I'm serious. I'm just glad that something positive came out of that disastrous night I spent with Buffy…or maybe it wasn't me." His eyes suddenly lit up as realization hit him. "So that's what your little magic experiment was for Spikey. Couldn't keep hold of your own girl so you decided to take mine with the help of a little spell."

Buffy glared at him, although there was now the slightest hint of uncertainty in her eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Angelus rolled his eyes. "Come on, baby, you're not that stupid. Loverboy here has cast some sort of spell on you. He's clearly more desperate than I thought."

Buffy looked at Spike for some sort of denial but none came. "It wasn't like that." he murmured with shame.

She felt the tears well up in her eyes. "Tell me it's not true. Spike. Is all this…all these feelings…they're not real?"

When no answer came she stood up, quivering with rage. "I should have known something was going on…I wake up and suddenly I have to be near you…"

Angelus grinned to himself; he'd had his fun. "Well, my work here is done. I'll leave you two love birds to it."

He swept out the door, banging it shut behind him.

Buffy looked at Spike and slowly shook her head, trying to process what she'd heard as she did so.

"It can't be a spell." She said quietly, almost to herself. "It doesn't feel like a spell."

"I'm sorry, luv," Spike whispered, barely able to keep his own tears back. "I wasn't meant to happen like this."

Suddenly her temper flared. "Then how was it supposed to happen?!" she yelled. "You thought you'd just keep yourself entertained with me and hope that I never found out?"

"NO!" Spike sat up as much as he could. "The spell was to get Dru back, but something went wrong and you showed up. I was going to try and break the spell but I went and bloody fell in love with you."

Buffy stared at him for a moment, slightly stunned by his declaration. "You should have told me." she said softly.

Spike sighed and lay back down. "If I could go back and do things differently, believe me, I would. I'd try and get you to love me on your own, no magic involved."

Buffy swallowed hard. "Can-can I see it? The spell? I want to know what you did to me."

Spike nodded and pointed to the chest in the corner of the room. "There should be a leather book in there."

Buffy walked over and soon found the book, which was sitting on top of a lot of other junk. She picked it up and carried it over to Spike. He quickly flicked through the pages until he found the spell he had cast and handed the book to Buffy. She read the words and as she reached the bottom of the page her eyes widened.

"This can't be." she whispered.

"Look, I already told you, I'm sorry. I'll find a way to break the spell and then you won't ever have to look at me again."

Buffy shook her head. "No, Spike. You don't understand; there is no spell."

He lifted his head again. "What are you talking about? Of course there's a spell, I cast the bloody thing myself."

Buffy began to read aloud.

"Unlike most ordinary love spells, this one is designed not to create love but to reveal it. The casters true love will be sent to them and from then on it is up to them to make the most of the situation."

Buffy closed the book and put it down. She looked at Spike who was gaping at her, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped.

"I-I" he stammered.

"You didn't cast a love spell." Buffy said on his behalf. "We did this on our own."

She climbed onto the bed and knelt beside him. "Spike, I love you."

Finally he found his voice. "Buffy, god, I love you so much."

He pulled her into a passionate kiss and when they both ran out of energy they lay there happily in each other's arms. This had been the best Valentines gift either of them could have wished for: true love.

The End


End file.
